My Favorites

AARP Favorites

Diet & Nutrition

10 Festival Foods That Will Ruin Your Diet

The skinny on the fried, sugary and fat-filled foods you'll find at festivals and fairs.

October 24, 2016|Comments: 0

Corn Dog

En español | Let's start with the crowd-pleasing battered dog. You take a hot dog, dip it in cornmeal batter, and deep fry it on a stick. That's a corn dog, a portable treat with somewhere around 250 calories and 14 grams of fat.
— Fotosearch/Age Fotostock

1 of 12

Funnel Cake

This is one of those summertime splurges that is so carbo-liciously yummy, you (almost) don't regret it in the morning. A hot, lumpy round of fried dough is about 760 calories, with 44 grams of fat.
— Stockfood/Age Fotostock

2 of 12

AARP Offer: Eat healthy, live well

Large Ice Cream Cone

It depends on the flavor and maker, as well as your definition of "large," but let's say you're looking at an 8-ounce serving of chocolate ice cream. That's around 500 calories and 22 grams of fat.
— Stephanie Horrocks/iStockphoto

4 of 12

French Fries

A 7-ounce serving of fries will set you back 560 calories with 24 grams of fat. Note that this amount would be on the small side at many concession stands.
— Peter Frank/Corbis

5 of 12

Deep-Fried Twinkie

This state fair classic seemed to be headed for the history books when Hostess went belly-up. But now a new manufacturer is reviving the cream-like-substance-filled confection. Fried, it's around 420 calories with 34 grams of fat.
— Jim West/Alamy

6 of 12

Cotton Candy

This childhood staple — a melt-in-your-mouth cloud of spun sugar — is about 100 calories an ounce, with no fat. Your typical stick is about 1 ounce but it's all carbs, carbs and more carbs.
— Corbis

7 of 12

Onion Rings

Yes, onions are vegetables, but eight or nine fried rings have about 275 calories and at least 15 grams of fat.
— Alamy

8 of 12

Chicken-Fried Bacon

Awarded the fried food award for Best Taste at the State Fair of Texas in 2008, this thick bacon with a "special" batter and breading is deep-fried and served with a side of creamy dip. Each piece has about 493 calories, before any dip. If you're worried enough to ask about its fat content, don't eat it.
— Day Alice/Age Fotostock

9 of 12

Krispy Kreme Chicken Sandwich

This heart clogger can be found at the California State Fair, and possibly other festivals that fry anything edible. A wild estimate of total calories for the donut, chicken breast and a slice of cheese is 555, with around 25 grams of fat (and those numbers will rise if the chicken or cheese is fried).
— Raymond Forbes/Age Fotostock

10 of 12

Fudge

A 2-ounce piece of the dense chocolate sweet has about 225 calories and 5.5 grams of fat.
— Getty Images/iStockphoto